Spring Peeper - Pseudacris crucifer

• Diagnostic Features:
  • Size: 0.75 to 1.5 inches (19 to 35 mm)
  • Color:
    • Varies from yellow, brown, olive, to gray
  • Other:
    • Small, slender body, but abdominal area my bulge
    • Dark cross on dorsal surface in shape of an 'X', may be irregular or indistinct
    • Dark barlike marking between eyes, also may be indistinct or irregular
    • Underparts are buff, cream colored, or yellowish
    • Underparts may be marked with a netlike pattern or spotted
    • Large toe pads
    • Unwebbed toes
  • Sexual Dimorphism:
    • Females are generally lighter in coloration
    • Males often have dark throats
    • Males are usually smaller
• Natural History:
  • Habitat:
    • This frog prefers woodland areas and areas of brushy growth near small temporary ponds.
  • Behavior:
    • It is nocturnal and is rarely seen except during breeding season.
    • It hibernates in very cold weather.
  • Breeding:
    • Breeding occurs from October to March, depending on the temperature.
    • Single eggs are attached to underwater objects
    • About 900 eggs per female.
• Voice: Sonogram - Call ( Effingham, Jenkins, & Hart Counties )
  • Repetition of a single note, sometimes followed by short trill
  • Also squabbling calls
  • Short Trill may be given in the daytime as well as during night chorus
  • Large vocal sac
  • One of the first calls of the spring, will call down to a temperature of about 36 degrees F.
• Tadpoles:
  • Tadpole stage: 90 - 120 days
  • 
  • LTRF 2/2; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae present or not; eyes lateral
  • P-2/P-3 > 3.0 (if P-3 is present); length of one side of A- 2/width of medial gap ca. 3.0; few submarginal papillae laterally; dorsum of tail muscle may be crudely banded at least in younger stages, uniformly dark, or with irregular pale area over most of surface; tail muscle in lateral view often bicolored in younger specimens but becomes more uniform with age; fins blotched in large tadpoles in some areas; winter and spring breeder, most common in temporary sites usually in or near forests throughout eastern North America east of eastern Texas and Missouri and north to central Ontario (extremely variable)
  •  LTRF 2/3; narrow midventral gap in marginal papillae absent; eyes lateral; east of Mississippi River; regardless of size, stage or range, notable colors or patterns in Section 10 absent; P-3 short, P-2/P-3 > 1.8; lateral surface of tail muscle pigmented throughout (even if diffusely), mottled, or graded from dark dorsally to pale ventrally (i.e., not bicolored)
  • throat speckled with widely-spaced, large melanophores; dorsum uniformly medium brown to semi-transparent depending on habitat turbidity; midventral marginal papillae uniserial; P-2/P-3 > 2.8; length of one side of A-2/width of medial gap ca. 3.0; lower jaw sheath narrow; spring breeder, usually in temporary lentic sites, often in or near woods and with emergent vegetation, throughout all designated area except southern half of Florida peninsula
• Range:
  • In North America, this treefrog is found from the southern parts of eastern Canada, south to the Gulf of Mexico.
  • In Georgia, it is found throughout the state.

    

  • In Light Blue: Williamson, Gerald K. & Moulis, Robert A., Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, Special Publication No. 3, Savannah Science Museum, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, 1994
  • In Green: Sound Recordings
  • In Yellow: From Both '94 study and Sound Recordings
  • In Magenta: Photograph, not found by '94, may or may not be sound record
  • In Medium Blue: Photograph and in '94 study, may or may not be sound record 
  • In Orange: County Record by other Herp Atlas Volunteers
  • In Red: US Distribution from various sources

June 28, 2003 - wwknapp@mindspring.com